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5 



CONSIDERATIONS 

RELATIVE TO A SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 



Thornbueg Plantation, ] 

Northampton Co., N. C. j" 

To the Editor of the Standard: } 

Sir: In one of your receiit issues you call upon the citizens 
of our State to give you their views on the present aspect of 
affairs in the nation, and of the course for the South to pur- 
sue, that you may be supported (in case of approval) in laying 
before 3^our readers the sentiments you have heretofore ex- 
pressed. This call 1 deem it highly proper to be made, not 
only by yourself, (your very responsible situation as Editor of 
a paper, which is the principal source of information on public 
matters to so large a portion of our people, makes it import- 
ant you should be well informed,) but also the Executive and 
other officers should in so momentous a time as the present, 
when a complete change in the relations of our country is im- 
minent, know well what support they can rely on in case ur- 
gent necessity demands unusual and decided action by our 
State. 

He who noAv denies that " there is danger to the State " — 
that a dissolution of the Confederacy established by our fath- 
ers is threatening and imminently so, is blind to what is pass- 
ing around him, is regardless of the continuous progress and 
increasing aggressions of the abolitionists and their affiliators, 
the black Eepnblicans, and closes his reason to the teaching 
of history — that of the Puritans in particular — who have al- 
ways been exhibited as tanatics and despotically aggressive 
from the time of John Knox and Oliver Cromwell to those of 
Gerritt Smith and Wendall Phillips. 

In this state of trouble and danger, it is eminently proper 
for us to consider what we, the citizens of the State shall do, 



first for our self preservation, next, for the preservation of 
law and good order among ourselves, and (if consistent with 
these) our present Union. 

No Southern man, nor any man well informed as to the 
true situation of the South and of the negro character, will 
deny, that to preserve our property, even more, our very 
lives and the lives and honor of our wives and families, the 
four millions of negroes among us, must be kept in their pre- 
sent state of subjection. That this will soon become impossi- 
ble, under the continuous, persevering and energetic aggres- 
sions of the North, is obvious to all, who, like mj^self, 
have watched the progress of events for the last twenty-five 
years. 

What in 1830 and '35 was the denunciation of Arthur Tap- 
pan and his satellites, in 1859 becomes the raid of John Brown, 
encouraged and supported by thousands of men, public and 
private, and aided by money enough to arm and equip thou- 
sands of insurrectionary negroes ! What, at the former pe- 
riod, were the muttered vaporings of a few fanatics and the 
revilings of a few obscure prints, is now disseminated broad- 
cast through the land by the press, by the pulpit— j^roj^wtZor/ 
and by orators and lecturers, and is even forced upon us, by 
vile, false and incendiary documents. " An irrepressible con- 
flict" is loudly proclaimed by the great leader of the North, 
who declares that " they can and will " exterminate slavery 
from the land ; they "will follow it in Yirginia, in the Caro- 
linas, aye even into Texas." And to effect this, calls to his 
aid a '' liigher law " than the Constitution he has solemnly 
sicorn to support ; (and this is the man that the North expects 
quietly and suT^missively to be installed in authority over us, 
and in whose hands the whole power of the Executive, the 
army, navy and treasury, is to be placed ! Yerily, we shall 
deserve all that has been threatened against us, if we do.) 

Again : what but a few yeai's back was an attempt at vari- 
ous conciliations, is at this moment an attempt at one of the 
grossest and most gratuitous insults ever put by one nation 
u])()n another! The John Brown raid was bad enough, but 
the encouragement of efforts to produce insurrection and 



treason among us, ten times more numerous and a liundred 
times more horrible, is far leyoiid the John Brown raid, in 
atrocity ; what then can we think of those who have been 
banded togetlier for months, with unanimity unparalleled in 
our political history, for the purpose of electing as the gov- 
erning officer over Southern men that man whose homos and 
households and whose property he had been encouraging 
others to destroy ! The animus wdiich governed sixty-eight 
Representatives of the ^orth, to encourage the attempts re- 
commended in Helper's book to create insurrection and trea- 
son among us, and the unanimous support of these men by 
the black Republican party, must be looked on by candid 
minds as out-weighing far all the good effect of all the Union 
meetings at the North, %maccompaiiied as they have been by 
any rebuke to these men, Kew^ Jersey alone standing out in 
view as having done so. 

Such being the state of things in our country, it is time to 
ponder them well ; it is time to look out for our self-preserva- 
tion. Now the question comes up, shall we be any better off 
in a Southern Confederacy than in one with such discordant 
elements in it as the present one with the North, and espe- 
cially with that puritan people of New England ? 

I am not so presumptuous, Mr, Editor, as to suppose that T 
can lift the veil of the future, and disclose wdiat will and what 
will not be the state of things in so deplorable an event as the 
breaking up of this great confederacy. I content myself with 
laying before my fellow-citizens of the State the views and 
considerations which have presented themselves to my mind, 
in a loner and anxious examination of the subject. I propose 
to offer these considerations very concisely in the following 
order : 1st, the relations that would exist to the civilized 
world, in case of the formation of a Southern Confederacy by 
the fifteen slave States ; next to the North, or to a Northern 
Confederacy ; and, lastly, those that would exist among the 
States and people of the Southern Confederacy themselves. 

Premising Ihat no statesman, or even reader of modern 
history, wdll deny that the material interests of nations is the 
guide of their policy in this the 19th century, that Cabinets 



are governed in treaties, alliances, reciprocities, itc, by tlie 
expected advantages to their nations, let us note hovv' 'we shall 
stand towards the i-est of the world in this regard. 

A Southern Confederacy would present to Europe a nation 
that produces all those great staples, Cotton, Sugar, Tobacco, 
Naval Stores, &c., tfec , which are not only in great demand, 
but of absolute necessity to the maintenance of inillions of her 
inhabitants, either for consumption, manufacture, or revenue. 
The destruction or even the material diminution of these pro- 
ducts of tlie Souths would be attended by a total change in 
the course of trade, manufacture and commerce of the civi- 
lized world. Its destruGtion would be followed immediately 
by bankruptcies and ruin of thousands in England, France 
and Germany, such as were not witnessed even during the 
wars of Napoleon. It would throw out of employment and 
upon the public for support, the inillions — live in Great Bri- 
tain alone— who now support themselves by the manufacture, 
&G,^ o\' 0117' products alo7ie. This is no exaggeration. Lord 
Stanly, the son of the present Premier of Englaiid, and him- 
self one of the first statesmen of his country, declared in a 
speech to his constituents, only a few 3"ears since, on occasion 
of the difficulties between the United States and Great Bri- 
tain, that "a war with the United States was next to an im- 
possibility ;" that the mutual interests of the two countries 
were too closely connected ; that the deprivation of the sup- 
plies of Cotton^ would, in six months, produce almost univer- 
sal bankruptcy, and in twelve months an insurrection of the 
working classes ! Now just one reflection here. Is it likely 
that England, which only a few years ago sent her men-of- 
war (and in a time of profound peace) to Italy, Xo force a con- 
tinuance of the supplies of sulphur, and did force it, is Eng- 
land likely to stand aloof, when she sees an infinitely more 
important supply cut off, and by an attack — supposing such 
a thing possible, which I do not — of the North, her rivals up- 
on the people, who, and who only^ can offer her these sup- 
plies? Further: the southern part of the United States man- 
ufactures but a very inconsiderable portion of her consump- 
tion, either of her own products or those of other countries, 



while lier demand for the manufactures and goods of every 
kind exported from Europe, but now supplied, to a very great 
extent, by nortKern manufactories, is enormously large and 
constantly increasing — while the fact that the profitable em- 
ployment of her labor in agriculture, and the indisposition of 
her capitalists towards manufacturing, gives promise that she 
is not likely for many years to interrupt these supplies from 
Europe, by high tariffs or by engaging in rival manufactories. 
Thus, a confederacy of the slave States would offer to the 
friendship and alliances of Europe the " material interests" 
of a doubly profitable trade — that of a supply oi raw products, 
and a cZ^m(2?i<^ for manufactures and other goods. Wh.at other 
nation on the face of the globe can offer such a temptation to 
England, France and Germany? It would be almost enough 
to turn the philanthropic dealers in the Coolie trade back to 
the original African slave trade, and convert the armed cruis- 
ers off the African coast into Baltimore clippers, to bring us 
more slaves, that thereby their profits might be increased. It 
would make them urge on the acquisition of Cuba, and the 
annexation of Nicaragua, Musquito, Eaitan Islands and all ! 
"What a contrast to this would be the position of the northern 
States ? Kival, always, in manufactures, in trade and in com- 
merce, bordering countries with border disputes on the St. 
John's in Maine, on the St. Lawrence in New York, and on 
St. Juan in Oregon — nothing but Old King Cotton has here-' 
tofore kept the peace ! — 7i(? had but to rise from his snowy 
throne at the South, shake his white locks,^ raise his omnipo- 
tent finger and bid them be still, and they have been still! 
This is but a metaphor, Mr. Editor, but every statesman in 
the land must admit its truthfulness. 

While these strong inducements to the friendly considera- 
tion of the great nations of Europe are offered by a purely 
Southern Confederacy, it would afibrd but few or no causes 
for distrust or jealousy on their part. We are far removed 
from the scene of their struggles; we have no disposition to 
interfere with them ; our commerce is but small, and we 
should require but few ships of war to protect it ; our coast 
presents its own defence ; we have no rich and large cities 



8 

on the sea to tempt cupidity ; we are engaged in no enter- 
prise calculated to bring us into collision with foreign nations; 
we are not airgressive: we need offend none, unless it be our 
Northern Puritanic philanthropists, who sa}^ we "sin in 
slavery," and to prove it, invoke "an anti-slavery Bible and 
an anti-slavery God," and would call in "a higher law" to 
punish us ! 

A few words now as to the ability of a Southern confederacy 
to maintain a high position among the nations of the earth. 
[ shall not in this consideration, enter into an examination of 
the causes that give power and authority among nations; it 
would require too much time and space ; suffice it to say, 
that one of the chief of these causes is the ability of a State 
to maintain a large and prosperous trade with the chief and 
rival States of the world, and of this we have ample. I will 
now ffive a few statements to show the ability of the South 
to take care of herself, and to support a powerful State in an 
efficient and dignified manner. Fu'st, as to revenue, the sta- 
tistics of the United States show the fact that of the whole 
exports of the products of the country (except specie) 
amounting to 2T8 millions annually, the slaveholding States 
alone exported 220 milhons, while the non-slaveholding States 
exported less thon 6 millions, the balance being so mixed it 
could not well be ascertained to which section the values be- 
longed. ^N'ow, this export of the products of the soil, to the 
extent of 220 to 240 milHons by the South, gives a basis to 
an import of full 200 millions, (and leaves a handsome surplus) 
on which a reduced tariff of 20 per cent, would afford a 
revenue of 40 millions of dollars without any direct tax, 
which would be more than ample for all our wants. Indeed, 
we could readily reduce the tariff' to 10 per cent, average, 
and still have ample means to support a government quite as 
well as the present one, under its system of wasteful extrava- 
p^ance and constant frauds. We should be relieved from the 
enormous cost of fortifying New York, Boston, the Lakes, 
^c. We should have no Mormon war, requiring transpor- 
tation of troops and supplies, and almost fabulous prices, and 
o-ivino- birth, to a legion of contractors, able and willing to 



9 

prey on the government to an unlimited extent. Our coasts 
need but few and small size cruizers. Our commerce not 
being, or likely to be, very extended for many years, would 
require but few ships-of-war to protect it in foreign ports. 
Our army need be but a nucleus to form on, in case of neces- 
sity. Having, then, an abundant supply of funds to carry 
on the government, the South has ever shown herself to 
possess the first statesmen of the country, and no where can 
a more enlightened, intelligent and patriotic series of names 
be found than those offered by the South from George Wash- 
ington to those now representing her in the councils of the na- 
tion in Washington City. We can fearfessly yield our interests 
and those of the government into the hands of those states- 
men, vrith whom it will be intrusted on the formation of a 
Southern confederacy. I will now consider some of the more 
prominint points of the position that would be presented to 
the !North by a confederacy of the Southern States, in case 
such were to occur. Massachusetts, Yermont, Wisconsin and 
several of the other IN^orthern States having already repu- 
diated the contract between us, i. e., the constitution, by 
passing laws contrary to the provision of that contract, in 
those particulars that do not 2)le(ise tkeiii, and thereby "void- 
ing the whole contract," let us suppose that the fifteen South- 
ern States were to "accept the annulment," and call a 
convention among themselves "to form a more perfect Union" 
under a new confederation. Let us suppose further that in 
the interval between the election of a black Kepublican Pres- 
ident and the time of his inauguration in March, a period of 
four months^ this convention had met, organized, agreed 
upon a contract or constitution which had been accepted by 
the States in their Legislative assemblies ; had elected and 
inaugurated a President ; had called home her sons from the 
army and navy, and put the country on her defence, a de- 
fence not only of political rights — not only of property, nor 
even of life ! but of that which is far more dear, of the de- 
fence of their wives and families from the horrors of another 
St. Domingo war ! and think you, Mr. Editoi', would not the 
l^orth pause before attempting to " whip in " such a people 



10 

armed for defence of such a cause? and would they not, even 
if all of them were inspired with the deadl^^ hatred of a 
Phillips or a Garrison, ponder well before attacking ns, and 
that without a motive, and against their own obvious inter- 
ests? For the purpose of argument, however, let us consider 
this question of an attack of the lN"orth upon the South, 
either for the purpose of '' whipping" us back into forced 
Union, or of conquest. The States of Virginia, Marjdand, 
Kentucky, Tennessee and North-Carolina possess a militia of 
over 500,000 able bodied men, badly armed, it is true, but 
quite as well as were their fathers of the revolution. Of this 
body 200,000 could alwa3"s be kept ready for action, mean- 
while living in their own country and among friends at little 
expense, Now, to attack an enemy's country, an army must 
be well armed and thoroughly equipped, provisioned, &c. 
This, by the estimate of our engineer corps, cannot be done 
under a cost of ijl, 000 per head, so that to form and bring 
into the fi.eld, ready for attack, in any enemy's country, an 
army of 100,(^-00 men, which would be the least number any 
military man would think of beginning an attack with, 
would cost not less ^than 100 millions of dollars. Where is 
this sum to come fromf Recollect, Mr. Editor, there w^ill 
then be no ''United States" in whose name loans can be 
raised, and the l)ankers of England, France and Germany 
will hardly be willing to loan money to their rivals to crush 
their friends, wdiose products are so necessary to them, while 
-the South can offer any securitj^ ijipon the pledge of her pro- 
ilucts. It VMS upon the 2^l<^dge of Southern tohacco and rice 
thai this govermnent made its first loan in Europe^ through 
Silas Dean^ from Bcaumarchais^ the French hanker. In 
vshort, if the North were united in an attempt to force the 
South back into a Fnion, it would soon be driven off in dis- 
grace by the power wliich the South possesses of raising, not 
only her own forces in defence^ but by the control she has of 
the material interest of the civilized world as against a mad 
attack of this kind upon her. 

Bat, Mr. Editor, there will be no attack upon us, as I think 
you will a^re.Cj on a ca^lni consideration of the two parties, 



11 

after a separation. Bear in mind that tlie horder country in 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ilh'nois and Indiana, are 
friendly, and oft times connected by marriage, property, &c., 
with their Southern neighbors ; it is only the more northern 
counties of those States that supply the John Brown raid, 
the slave stealers, &c. This gives us great assurance of ex- 
emption from smaller raids upon the border, and these could 
be completely prevented by a cordon of border police, armed 
and mounted— read v to act at a moment's warnino- — and 
keeping close watch on all suspicious persons crossing the 
border. This could be effected for one quarter part of the 
amount of the present losses by slave stealers, and would only 
be necessary till the relation between the two countries could 
be decided. And now let us consider what this relation is 
likely to be. It must either be civil war^ carried on with all 
the horrors that ever attended such contests, or it will be a 
friendly alliance of contiguous and homogeneous people, 
whose interests, education and general character are in ac- 
cordance. In short, if it assumes a peaceful nature, it will 
resemble much the alliance that now exists between Eno-land 
and Scotland, who, while they have many differing laws 
and customs, and differ in many characteristics, are yet con- 
tent, and were, for many years, content to remain peacefully 
side by side ; or that between Canada and the United States, 
with conterminous boitndaries, free navigation of boundary 
rivers, like the St. John, and the St Lawrence, and recipro- 
city treaties, like that negotiated a few years since, admittino- 
the products of either country without duty. In brief, there 
is no reason why the two confederacies should not exist, side 
by side, with friendly relations, free from all commercial re- 
strictions, permitting a close and friendly intercourse of citi- 
zens of each country, and intimate business transactions, just 
us at present, except that the JSTorthern people will have no 
voice in the making of our laws, and we shall be rid of the 
aggressiveness of Puritanical fanaticism, which, in its blind 
pursuit of its own vain imaginings, would destroy a Paradise — 
would substitute for the mild precepts of our Holy Religion 
a "higher law," an "anti-slavery bible, and an anti-slavery 



12 

Q-od" — would hurl the blessed Saviour of mankind from his 
throne in Heaven, and place Jolm Brown, the cheat, the 
horse thief, and midnight murderer, in his stead ! 

]S"ow, Mr. Editor, can there be an}^ doubt as to which course 
would be adopted by the Northern States upon a withdrawal 
of the South from the present confederacy? Doubtless, if 
only two or three of the Southern States were to withdraw, 
the North might attempt to coerce them ; but would the other 
Southern States permit this ? To do so would be to surrender 
the liberties of the whole South ! This, however, is not the 
question now under consideration, — it is whether a great civil 
war would be undertaken against us in case of the withdrawal 
of the slave States from a nationalitij with the North? Bear 
in mind that it is not the horder people we have to fear ; they 
are generally friendly and know enough of the negroes not to 
desire more of them as public nuisances among themselves. 
Then it would only be by the imited action of the North that 
any great or important aggressive action could be taken, re- 
sulting in a miUtary attack upon us. Now, would the North- 
west, the North, and the New England States be likely to be 
united among themselves f Are their interests so mutual and 
dependent reciprocally, as to unite them in any great enter- 
prise, much less one involving the expenditure of millions and 
the sacrifice of thousands of lives, — the disrupture of all busi- 
ness, the destruction of all prosperity, and the utter ruin of 
numbers of their best people ? With whom is the great North- 
west most closely connected ? Certainly with the South, 
through the great channel of the Mississippi, which it would 
be as much an object of the South to keep open and free, to 
retain the business of the Northwest, (for we are not likely to 
drive off our best friends to propagate an abstraction of our 
own,) as it would tor the Northwest itself! With whom does 
New York and Pennsylvania carry on the most profitable 
trade ? Certainly not with New England ; in fact, it has been 
declared by some of the members from New York City, that 
"New York could not afford to break with the South ;" and 
her orators have declared they had best break with New 
Enojland ! 



13 

Again : when the North should meet in council, on so mo- 
mentous an occasion as the disruption of our present Confed- 
eracy, and to consider what was best to be done for their own 
safety and prosperit^^ it would be her statesmen who would 
then be called from their present exile ; her Everetts, her 
"Winthrops, her Appletons, her Dickinsons, and her Seymours, 
would then lead the deliberations of her councils and the ac- 
tion of her assemblies. The Wilsons, Sumners, Hickmans, 
and Chaffees would descend to the obscurity whence their vile 
demagoguical pandering to an ignorant fanaticism, only has 
raised them. There would be no question of "squatter sove- 
reignty," no "fugitive slave law," no "territorial rights" for 
these persons to make a noise about, but these would be 
changed for the solemn consideration of the future of their 
counti-y. And when the question comes up before such an 
assembly of conservative statesmen, whether they should com- 
mence a civil war, of which none of the most sanguine could 
foresee the end, the wisest foretell the result; or whether Ihey 
should offer an alliance of comity and free trade to a sister 
Republic, from whom so much was to be gained by trade and 
commerce, or so much to be lost by a distracting and desola- 
ting war — can there be a doubt as to the way they would 
decide ? None ! My own opinion is — and I have been closely 
intimate in Massachusetts for twenty-five years — that in less 
than two years after the formation of a Southern Confederacy, 
Massachusetts herself would agree not only to return all fugi- 
tive slaves that may escape hereafter to her territory, but to 
restore all now on her soil, in order to obtain a treaty from 
the South, by which her manufactures would be received by 
us on the same terms the)" now are. In fact a Southern Con- 
federacy^ would hold the prosperity, for ^-ears at least, of all 
New England in the hollow of her hand. For the prosperity 
of New England being dependent exclusively upon manufac- 
tures and commerce, without the market of the South foj* the 
former and the protection of the navigation laws for the latter, 
these, nearly her sole employment, must perish. 

No, Mr. Editor, when the North find, too late, that they 
have driven their brethren of the South into a new Confede- 



u 



racy, for their self-preservation, reflection will then come, and 
their object will be, most assuredly, not to begin a destructive 
.and useless war against them, but to recover by negotiation 
and treaty the advantage of their former trade and relations, 
and in bidding for this, I venture to predict that Massachu- 
setts will out do all her competitors ! 

Many other reasons could be adduced to prove the utter 
improbability, almost impossibility, of a civil war being a se- 
quence to the formation of a Southern Confederac}^, but really 
it would seem like silly surplusage to argue the matter further. 
The nineteenth century is not an era, in which a disastrous 
and desperate crusade for the propagation of a fanatical creed 
is likely to be undertaken by civilized nations, and there as- 
suredly is no other cause for a murderous onslaught upon an 
unoifending and homogenous people, than that we can't be 
made "by moral suasion" to believe that "slavery is a sin 
against the laws of God and man," for we lind it clearly or- 
dered in the former, and it has been acknowledged by the 
latter in all civilized and uncivilized nations, and in all periods 
of history till the supposed interests of England excluded it a 
few 3^ears ago, at least so far as the Mack man is concerned. 
Cobbett, Coleman, Lester and others, tell us that as yet, the 
white laborer of England has not been freed, but is in a far 
worse state than slavery. 

Havino^ thus shown that a confederacy of the fifteen slave 
States would present to the civilized world a nation whose 
friendship and alliance is every way desirable, and whose 
wealth and power must soon make it rank with the first of the 
earth — whose revenues would at once, and without any bur- 
then upon the people, enable it to support a dignified and 
liberal government ; and further, that so far from an attack 
upon us by the North, our trade and alliance would be equally 
sought for there, it only remains to consider the relation that 
would exist among the States and peoples of the new confed- 
eracy. 

And here we are at once met by a fact of no small impor- 
tance in this consideration : it is, that we are, in many re- 
spects, a different people from those of New England, and 



15 

more homogenous. This difference first arose from the dif- 
ferent "stock" from wliich we sprung. This is too well known 
to every one familiar with the earl}^ history of his own coun- 
try, for me to do more than refer to it at present. It is suffi- 
cient to say there has been, at different periods, antagonism 
between the two ever since the. times of Queen Mary, of Scot- 
land, and Charles the 1st, of England, and our owm. 

This difference of origin has not been obliterated ; indeed, 
the difference of early education, of domestic institutions, of 
general religious training and of occupation, (we being chiefly 
engaged in agriculture and they in trade and manufactures,) 
has continued the marked difference between the men of the 
Southern and those of the Northern and New England States 
especially. This difference between the people of the two 
sections has caused an increased friendliness and confidence 
among those of similar characteristics — as far as the natxire 
of each disposes them to frankness and confidence — and the 
Southern people, let their political differences be what they 
may, have unbounded confidence in each other, that when 
the time of real trial comes, all Southern men will be found 
bound together, and ready to defend their rights to the last. 
The only difference is as to whether that time is'close atliand 
or in tlie uncertain future. The confidence thus existing 
throughout the slave States is the last thing xiecessary to make 
perfect and impregnable the tie that ?^c^(?binds them together, 
and which is the strongest of all ties, that of a common clanger 
and a common interest. I shall not enlarge upon this topic; 
it is too well known among ourselves. I will only say that 
but for the control which the slave States of the Union have 
had over certain of the necessary material interests of the civ- 
ilized nations of the globe, we should — if not long since — soon 
find it impossible to retain our property, and these Sontliern 
States would present the picture of another St. Domingo or 
Jamaica. 'Tis true that enlightened statesmen of the day 
begin to discover that the interests of a large number of peo- 
ple require that they be supplied with Cotton, Sugar, &c., 
tfec, and that no wdiere can these be had on so favorable terms 
I as from us. This has given us our present position, which is 



16 

one of great power and influence; but viho can tell how long 
we shall retain this? Who can tell what changes in the econ- 
om}^ and trade of mankind a few short years may not produce ? 
It has required but iifty years to make the Cotton crop the 
most important exchange crop in the world, and its control 
the object of might}'- nations to struggle for! What may not 
the next fifty years produce? 

With the loss of this power and influence, what would be 
our situation in such a Union as the present ? With an over- 
whelming numerical majority at the JN^orth, and four-fifths of 
this majority composed of such materials as the present black 
Republican party, what safety would there be for us? When 
you reflect that even now, with all our advantages, this peo- 
ple, so dependent upon us and this very slave labor for all 
their prosperity, almost for the bread they eat and the clothes 
they wear, would destroy this labor and create a servile war 
to carry out their abstract creed ! When, further, the fact is 
known that this unscrupulous party which has already repu- 
diated the Constitution in so many States, which has produc- 
ed a " Ileiss " Legislature in Mass., and an anti-Supreme 
Court Judge in Wisconsin, is constantly urged on by the un- 
tiring, never-ending, reckless band of fanatics, (who are by no 
means among the low, but who count their Phillips's, Quin- 
cys, Emmersons and Sillimans, men of fortune and position,) 
it cannot be doubted by him who "judges of the future by 
the past," who reasons from the lights of history and experi- 
ence, that the rights and privileges of the South would be 
totally disregarded soon after changes in the aflfairsofthe 
world liad lost, to it the prestige and power it now enjoys. 

Considerations like these, which might he greatly increased^ 
but that they do not properly belong to the immediate ques- 
tion before us, have presented themselves to most reflecting 
minds at the South, and serve strongly to unite us by the 
closest bonds, so that in case of the formation of a Southern 
Confederacy, we should again witness the same self-sacrifice, 
forbearance, and sense of justice which influenced and gov- 
erned the action of our forefathers of the revolution, while 



IT 

there would be still less of the discordant elements of a varied 
nationality to adjust in the new government. 

I might extend the consideration of this part of the ques- 
tion much further, but as it is well known to most of us, and 
as there is no one point which is likely, even in a remote de- 
gree, to raise any antogonism between different States of the 
South, as their interests are the same, their occupations alike, 
and their general characteristics more homogeneous than that 
of any civilized nation of so large a population. I do not 
deem it necessary further to refute the slanders that some 
have uttered, viz : that in case of the attempt at the forma- 
tion of a new Confederacy, the South would be betrayed by 
the ambition of a few aspiring men — her own sons — into an- 
archy and confusion. But I earnestly entreat from my fel- 
low-citizens a solemn consideration of the great question now 
before us. The future of this great country depends upon a 
decision that may very shortly be upon us, whether we will 
or no. Let all private and party considerations be laid aside ; 
this matter is of far more importance, and should overrule 
them all. 

Before quitting the subject, let me endeavor to put the true 
state of things at the North, in one particular, before my fel- 
low-citizens. It is, that the political leaders are no Jono-or 
leading the people in abolitionism and aggression, but it is the 
people who are now urging on their Kepresentatives, they 
themselves being constantly excited by the harangues, &c.. 
of the fanatical orators, writers, and lecturere, such as Phil- 
lips, Cheever, Curtis, etc. It is this which makes the matter 
so dangerous and almost hopeless of a happy termination. 

The conviction of this truly unfortunate state of tilings was 
forced on me during a recent stay of several weeks in New 
England, shortly before and after the time when John Brown 
was hung ; and no man of common sense who would use his 
eyes and ears, and was a witness of what occurred there, could 
be made to believe that the great mass of the people did not 
more or less sympathize with John Brown, and not a few 
even of those high in position, to the extent of his canoniza- 
tion ; and this notwithstanding all the efforts of all the conser* 
2 



IS 



vatism of the country to spread the true cliaracter of the man 
before the pubhc ! Yes, the leaders have raised the storm, 
and instead of being able to direct it, are themselves obliged 
to follow its every impulse. The shrewdest of them begin to 
realize that they have gone too far for their own purposes, 
and w^ould fain moderate their language and aggressions. 

Seward would give his ears to recall his Rochester speech, 
but it is too late. And such is the Puritan character, such is 
its stubborn fanaticism when aroused, tha^ if the present lead- 
ers are not sufficiently bold they will be turned out and oth- 
ers more extreme in their principles put in ; it will again be 
the Long or Rump parliament replacing the short parliament, 
as in the days of Charles the First, of England. 

Truly does " history repeat itself," and it behooves us, if wc 
would not witness a repetition of that portion of it which de- 
scribes the unbridled license of triumphant fanaticism, to be 
more watchful than were the Royalists of the times of the 
English revolution. Of one thing, at least, we may be sure, 
fanaticism is never conciliated by concession^ and no conces- 
sion can be greater or exhibit more weakness than to admit 
the right oi any of its leaders to be installed into the Execu- 
tive power over ns. To place in the hands of a man who has 
openly and boldly proclaimed to the Northern people, " slave- 
ry can be limited ^ ^ -^ ^'- it can and must be abolish- 
ed, and you and I must do it," (see Seward's Ohio speech,) 
the power of the army and navy, and of the treasury^ would 
be a folly that would deserve, and doubtless bring the heaviest 
punishment. Our only excuse for permitting the inaugura- 
tion of such a man, could be, that we believed he was lying 
to deceive his Northern allies, and lor our 'benefit^ for it is too 
late now to alledge as some of his friends do, that he did not 
mean what he said! He has repeated the substance of the 
principle too often since, and in too many places and at long 
intervals, for that excuse to hold. It is either his intention to 
limit and abolish slavery as soon as it is in his power to do so, 
or he lies^ and certainly is not to be trusted b}^ the South. 

In the gloom of mind which the consideration of the state 
of the country inevitably brings, there is a gleam which comes 



19 

to cheer us with the hope of better things ; there is still a point 
in the dark view that the mind of the Southern patriot rests 
on with satisfaction and trust, which under the Providence of 
God will yer burn and glow till it has dispersed the lurid 
clouds that now^Ull the heavens with their frightful forms and 
sink his soul in solemn sadness — for there can be no sadder 
page in the history of man, than to see a people run mad by 
rioting in their own prosperity, destroying with their own 
hands the noblest work of human government, and that too 
for a mere abstraction, which has no practical application to 
them. The pages of history may be sought in vain for a 
parallel case. 

This light comes from the Korth — it emanates from that 
small but noble band of patriots who for long and weary 
years have fought the battle' of life for their country and the 
Constitution, who have stood up year after year against over- 
whelming numbers — against almost universal opposition— 
against slander, taunt and vituperation — against the denun- 
ciations of the slanderous Phillips and the foul-mouthed 
Sumner, who have never sank under the assaults of their host 
of enemies, or despaired nnder defeat, nor bowed the knee 
to that well worshipped Idol of New England, " public opin- 
ion." This glorious band is still in the field, and instead 
of sinking, is redoubling its efi'orts in behalf of the Con- 
stitution and the country; its numbers are at length increas- 
ing ; upon its success, under Providence, the continuation of 
our Union depends — for we at the South have done all that 
in us lay — we can do no more — in the emphatic language 
of the Rev. Dr. Wheaton, " the battle is to be fought at the 
North." 

Should our friends succeed in the engagement now near at 
hand, and the black Republican party be beaten, it may 
give time for the New England mind to be disabused of the 
errors that twenty-five years of false education have grafted 
on it. It may give time for their wise men to teach wisdom 
instead of fanaticism to the people, and for their true minis- 
ters of Christ's Gospel to turn them from their " anti-slavery 
Bible and anti-slavery God " to the true teachings of his 



20 

Holy Word. Unless this is done we shall have only an ar- 
mistice instead of peace. Meantime let ns of the South 
maintain onr full, just and equal rights, keeping ourselves 
guarded and prepared, ever ready to extend the hand of 
fellowship and alliance, but never to permit any man, who 
teaches or wlio^ias taught a higher law to himself than the 
constitution, or who proclaims a determination to interfere 
either with our property or our rights, to be inaugurated into 
the possession of the power to enforce this determination. 
Wlien that time comes let us receive back the broken tion- 
tract, the constitution already vitiated by so many of the 

Northern States. 

Tours most respectfully, 

" H. K. B. 

Of Northampton. 



{Extract from Seward) s Ohio speech :) 

"The party of freedom seeks complete and universal eman- 
cipation. -^S- vc- * ^ -vr ^- -:f ^J V* 

" Slavery is the sin of not some of the States only, but of 
them all ; of not one nation only, but of all nations. It per- 
verted and corrupted the moral sense of mankind deeply and 
universally, and this corruption became a universal habit. 
Habits of thought become fixed principles. 'No American 
State has yet delivered itself entirely from these habits. We, 
in New York, are guilty of slavery still by withholding the 
right of suffrage from the race we have emancipated. You, 
in Ohio, are guilty in the same way by a system of black laws 
still more aristocratic and odious. It is written in the Consti- 
tution of the United States that five slaves shall count equal 
to three freemen as a basis of representation ; and it is writ- 
ten, also, in violation of Divine law, that we shall surrender 
the fugitive slave who takes refuge at our fireside from his 
relentless pursuer. You blush not at these things because 
they have become as familiar as household words ; and your 
pretended free-soil allies claim peculiar merit for maintaining 
these miscalled guarantees of slavery which they find in the 
national compact. Does not all this prove that the whig par- 
ty have kept up with the spirit of the age ? that it is as true 
and faithful to human freedom as the inert conscience of the 



21 

American people will permit it to be ? "What, then, (you say,) 
can notliing be done for freedom because the public con- 
science remains inert? Yes, much can be done; everything 
can be done. Slavery can be limited to its present bounds. 
It can be ameliorated. It can be and must be abolished, and 
you and I can and must do it. The task is simple and easy, 
as its consummation will be beneficent and its rewards glori- 
ous. It requires only to follow this simple rule of action ; to 
do everywhere and on every occasion what we can, and not 
to neglect or refuse to do what we can at any time, because 
at that pi'ecise time and on that particular occasion we can- 
not do more. 

" Circumstances determine possibilities. *'^ * * 

"But we must begin deeper and lower than the composi- 
tion and combination of factions or parties, wherein the 
strength and security of slavery lie. You answer that it lies 
in the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions 
and laws of slaveholding States. 'Not at all. It is in the er- 
roneous sentiment of the American people. Constitutions and 
laws can no more rise above the virtue of the people than the 
lhT:ipid stream can ch'mb above it3 native spring. Inculcate 
the love of freedom and the equal rights of man under the 
paternal roof; see to it that they are taught in the schools and 
in the churches ; reform your own code; extend a cordial 
welcome to the fugitive who laj^s his weary limbs at your 
door, and defend him as you would j^-our paternal gods ; cor- 
rect your own error that slavery has any constitutional guar- 
antee which may not be released, and ought not to be relin- 
quished. 

•5(- ^ -X- « -K- ■^ -Jf -it 

" Whenever the public mind shall will the abolition of slave- 
ry, the way will be open for it. 

"I know that you will tell me this is all two slow. Well, 
then, go faster, if you can, and I will go with you." 



{Extract from Mr. SewarWs letter to the Colored Citizens of 
Alhmiy^ January 10th, 1843 .•) 
"Gentlemen, if prejudice, interest, and passion did some- 
times counsel me that what seemed to be the rights of the 
African race might be overlooked without compromise of 
principle and even with personal advantage, yet I never have 
been able to find a better definition of equality than that 



22 

which is contained in the Declaration of Independence, or of 
justice, than the form which our religion adopts. If, as the 
former asserts, all men are born free and equal, institutions 
which deny them equal political rights and advantages are 
unjust ; and it I would do unto others as I would desire them 
to do uj'to me, I should not deny them any right on account 
of the hue they were, or of the land in which they or their 
ancestors were born. Only time can del ermine between 
those who have upheld and those who have opposed the mea- 
sures to which you have adverted. But I feel encouraged to 
wait that decision ; since, in a moment when, if ever, re- 
proaches for injustice should come, the exile does not reproach 
me, the prisoner does liOt exult in my departure, and the dis- 
franchised and the slave greet mo with their salutations. And 
if every other hope of my heart shall fail, the remembrance 
that I have received the thanks of those who have just cause 
to U2jhf'aid the memory of our forefathers and to complain of 
our cotemporaries will satisfy me that I have not lived alto- 
gether in vain. 

" May that God whose impartial love knows no difference 
among those to whom He has imparted a portion of His own 
spirit, and upon whom he has impressed His own" image, re- 
ward you for your kindness to me now and in times past, and 
sanction and bless your generous and noble efforts to regain 
all the rights of which you have been deprived." 



THE NOKTH AND THE SOUTH. 

Letters to the North- Carolina Standard a,nd Nevj York 
Journal of Commerce^ with extracts from newsjyajpers . By 

Thornbukg Plantation, near Halifax, ) 
K C, Jan., 1857. ( 

To the Editors of the Haleigh Standard: 

Messrs. Editors : — My position and that of all my family, 
as quiet unpretending planters, and never engaging in active 
politics, being known in this State for many years, I trust I 
may, without arrogance, ask of you a fair consideration of the 
opinions, &c., expressed in the within letter to a northern 
newspaper. 



23 

My opportunities for becoming acquainted with the opin- 
ions both of pohticians and private individuals at the north, 
and especially in the leading State of Massachusetts ; and also 
of the principles and views, for the future^ of the so-called 
Republican party, are such as southern men rarely have 
offered them. For eighten years I have mixed freely with 
all classes there; I have numerous relations and connexions 
in Connecticut and Massachusetts; for eighteen years I have 
discussed the question of slavery with all ranks and parties, 
and been a watchful observer of the progress of "abolition- 
ism," with its more modest, but near kinsmen, " free soil," 
"anti-slavery in the District of Columbia," "anti-domestic 
slave trade," and now "black Republican" parties, all nearly 
allied, and all gradually assimilating in purpose^ if not in open 
principle. But little more than twenty years since, when 
living in New York, I saw Arthur Tappan and his small 
clique of ten or a dozen unknown persons, looked down upon 
and despised by men, some of whom do not now hesitate to 
trample the constitution under their feet and proclaim a 
"higlierlaw" in support of the very same principles then 
declared by that very small band of fanatics. But they were 
armed \s\\\\ fanatical resolution, and the "one idea" was 
nursed by Tappan, with his then large fortune and energetic, 
though ill regulated mind, till it acquired numbers, and was 
found to be an admirable subject of appeal by the poHtical 
demacrocrue. And now we see these abstractions — and all 
the more powei'ful on men's minds, because they are abstrac- 
tions — made the prime, indeed, almost the sole political prin- 
ciple of the dominant party at the north, and which, unless 
checked at the norths will unquestionably destroy this con- 
federacy, and thus destroy the only refuge of struggling civil- 
ized liberty on the continent of Europe, and fasten the chains 
of despotism there more securely and for an indefinite period. 
Now the question is, how is this check to be effected ? How 
is this blow, now so threatening to the Union, to be weak- 
ened ? Bear with me, and excuse my presumption, in my 
anxiety for a continuance of the blessings a merciful God has 
^iven us — and of which I felt so severely the deprivation, 



24 

while in the despotic countries of Europe — while I give you 
my suggestions, founded on a knowledge of the New England 
people and their opinions on the slavery question, which last 
are based chiefly on a gross falsification of facts and a sickly 
sentimental literature. In this it is quite useless to address 
oneself to the mere politician or the fanatic; I shall not do so. 
One of the best means to effect a change in the northern 
mind is to give them correct information upon this great 
question. Let the true situation of the southern slave be 
made known, when it will be found, that instead of the greatly 
abused and wretched creature he has been heretofore repre- 
sented to them, he is the best fed, clothed and housed, and 
the happiest day laborer in the world. Let the negro him- 
•s^lf, his psychological and pathological nature be shown, and 
he will b€ discovered to have been pronounced, by the first 
scientific men — Agassiz and others — inferior to .he white 
man ; thus indicating by the Creator himself the position he 
has occupied since the days of the patriarch Abraham ! and 
which he is destined to fulfil to the end of time, despite the 
combination of English and American abolitionists. 

Again, could the magnitude of the interest which tlieKorth 
has in preserving and even in augmenting the prosperity of 
the South, as the great customer of its manufactures, the 
fixiighter of its vessels, the provider of its European exchanges, 
with a long catalogue of other benefits that serve so materi- 
ally to make up the prosperity of the jSTorth — conld all this be 
laid before the men of ]^ew England, who certain]}^ are not 
lightly alive to their material interests, the demagogues of the 
day would soon find their vituperation and false statements 
of "Southern aggression," "Kansas suffering," &c., fall upon 
heedless ears, and their trade would be gone. There are even 
men who believe that slave labor operates to the disadvantage 
of the South in keeping back its advance in prosperity, and 
thus with the Senator from Maine, would forbid any more 
slave States to the Union because they think they know better 
what is for our good than we do ourselves ! Whether this be 
so or not, it is for tis to decide, and the people of a territory 
before whom the question may be brought. This opinion. 



25 

however, can readily be shown to be erroneous. Slave labor 
is not only the best for us, but it is the only labor that can he 
controlled \vl this country or suitable to the climate, (and we 
should be guilty of a great folly in suffering ourselves to be 
wheedled or threatened out of it.) In the thickly populated 
and oppressed countries of Europe where labor goes Ijegging 
to keep off starvation, it becomes the worst kind of slave 
labor. In the ivQ^ States it is labor that controls capital, it is 
the mechanical power governing the directing power, it is the 
army commanding the general, it is the tail directing the head, 
and when these forces become antagonistic, convulsions occur ; 
hence the frequent insubordination and " strikes " of the oper- 
atives at the Xorth, and in the future these must become 
truly formidable ; while with us our labor, though probably 
not quite so cheap as the transitory labor picked up as it 
passes and thrown aside when it is useless, from sickness or 
old age, is iv^^ from all such objections, and is vQvy profitable 
yR\\Qw properly directed, as if is now beginning to be, (see the 
reports in the American Farmer and elsewhere of the great 
improvements and profits in Maryland, Virginia and ISTorth- 
Carolina.) 

I speak very decidudly on this point from practical experi- 
ence ; being educated at the North and passing so many years 
there I became fully imbued with the idea common to that 
country, as to the advantage of free labor, and both my brother 
and myself tried it thoroughl}^, about fifteen years ago. We 
imported two vessel loads, one from Boston and one from 
IN'ew York. Having invested a large amount in the experi- 
ment, and fully believing in its being successful, it was a long 
time before we could be induced to change our opinion and 
give it up, but after trying every expedient, we were at last 
compelled to do so, and at a heavy loss ; since then I have 
traveled in many parts of Europe, and understand something 
of what '' free labor" is there ; and in cdl particulars, even of 
personal liherty and religious teaching, excepting in France, 
and every where, in food, clothing and housing, our negroes 
are far better off throughout the whole South ; in truth white 
labor is of the most compulsury nature through all Europe, 



26 

and in England and Italy, especially in tlie former, is of the 
lowest and most debased character, without virtue, without 
dignity or pretension, without hope, which, to call it "slave- 
ry," (as known wilh us,) would be to do it honor. If any of 
your readers think this exaggeration, let them consult the re- 
ports of the commissioners sent to the agricultural and manu- 
facturing districts by the English Parliament, the writings of 
Cobbett, the late reports to the Morning Chronicle, or even 
" Colman's Agricultural Tour," — Colman, the agent of the 
Xew England Agricultural Society. Let this then be shown 
to the North, not merely by Congressional speeches, (which 
are read by few,) but by systematic and persevering effort, 
and they will not be so anxious to force their system upon 
us; the oft-repeated declaration by superficial observers, that 
"the South is witliering under the curse of slavery," is simply 
ridiculous, and is derived chiefly from such writers as 01m- 
stead, whose crudities are compiled chiefly from conversa- 
tions with ignorant overseers, " d'ackers," or negroes and 
negro dealers on a "railroad " journey. Look at the im- 
mense increase of her productions — her 180 millions of dol- 
lars of cotton, siirpliis^ her sugar, her tobacco, hemp, rice, 
wheat, flour, corn, coal, naval stores, lumber, etc., forming in 
fact almost the entire export of the United States, and pro- 
viding European exchange for our Northern banks! We 
have preferred agriculture to manufactures and commerce. 
It has been our mission — and in which we delight — to redeem 
the wilderness, to drain the swamp, to clear the cane brake, 
and to change them from being blots upon the surface to 
smiling corn fields and productive sugar and cotton planta- 
tions, supporting the very people as well as oui'selves, who 
would madly, by their measures, destroy their own prosperity, 
so dependant upon this very slave labor. But, in truth, the 
masses at tlie North "know not wdiat they do," and the dem- 
agogues care not! And how much of this improvement 
have we not effected, even during the short period of twenty- 
five years? Let the millions of acres redeemed at the South 
and South-west show! Let the exports of our country show! 
Let the statistics of the government show ! Finalh^, let the 



profits on our productions, which the Kew England manufiic- 
tnrers make, sliow ! (See the late report of the Boston Board 
of Trade.) Is it because we cannot point to large cities or 
over-grown factories that we are not prosperous? Heaven 
forbid! We like them not; we like not large cities! Wo 
prefer that our I^orthern brethren— brethren as long as they 
will "dwell together in unity" with us— should keep their 
factories and their attendant population, their large cities and 
ther mobs, "baggage smashers," " bowery boys," etc. We 
prefer the quiet, independent life of the planter and former, 
and surrounded by our "servants and bondsmen," looking 
up to us with affectionate dependance, like the Patriarchs of 
old, to till the earth and provide food and raiment for man. 
Why can't they "let us alone?" We can dwell together in 
unity, both of interest and feeling, if they will cease these 
denunciations and false statements about us ! Let them stop 
trying to force upon us, against our wish, their " abstractions 
and isms," their "moral and religious laws," their "anti- 
slavery Bible" and "anti-slavery G-^d," their "higher law," 
their "political economy." We are quite able to judge for 
ourselves ; if we prefer to choose our religion and morality 
from the laws of God as given from Mount Sinai and from 
the teachings of our blessed Saviour and his chosen Apostles, 
to that which Burlingame and Seward would force upon us, 
and "sin in slavery," we must look to that God for a judg- 
ment hereafter. 

Again, the ITorth must be disabused of the charge of 
"Southern aggression" and "Southern slave aristocracy." 
This has been ably done before Congress, it can be done again 
before the people of the North. All our aggression consists 
in demanding that we be "let alone" with "equal rights." 
The North will never bear with aggression, and had this 
charge been trice, the whole North would have risen up ogainst 
us as one man and righted themselves, as they have full poli- 
tical power to do ; but no ! the reading and reflecting men at 
the North know it is not true, and the honest ones among 
them dare to say so. (Witness the speeches made in both 
WhisT and Democratic conventions last summer in Boston and 
elsewhere.) 



^ 28 

As to the charge, that there exists a " slave aristocracy " 
among us, inimical to the institutions formed by our fore- 
fathers of the revolution, so cunningly brought forward by 
the able Senator from New York, to prejudice the northern 
mind against us, and thus aid in his elevation, it is answer 
enough to point to the names of the illustrious " slave aristo- 
crats," Washington, Pinckney, Lowndes, Madison, Caswell, 
Johnstone, and a host of others the brightest and purest 
among them ; the charge is simply ridiculous, and is only 
brought up by the cunning cant of the demagogue. In short, 
if we are to remain united, some measures must be taken to 
inform the masses at the north of the true state of things with 
us; the falsehoods so universally and so perseveringly propa- 
gated by the abolitionists, among the youth of the north of 
both sexes, for the past twenty-five years, is now effecting its 
deadly purpose ; the horrors and the absurdities in general 
belief among large classes there, almost exceeds credibility ; 
these must be set right, and in doing this, we shall be warmly 
aided by our friends there, and we have not a few, who are 
now kept down by the torrent of popular prejudice, bnt 
whose patriotism will induce them gladly to give testimony 
and aid in keeping up our glorious Union. 

Finally, Messrs. Editors, there is one thing more important 
in my view than aught else ; there is one point more essential 
to the preservation of our confederacy than all I have enu- 
merated ; a failure in which, must sooner or later cause not 
only a disruption of the Union, but inevitably be attended 
with a bloody conflict, a conflict, both parties of which will 
be at their last extremity before it is ended ; for, if ever the 
two sections of this country engage in a trial of battle, neither 
France in its bloodiest days, nor England in its convulsions, 
nor yet Rome in its decline, can show a parallel ! If there is 
any one conviction in my mind on this subject derived from 
a knowledge of the people of IS'ew England, stronger than 
another, it is, that the South should never yield one atom of 
her lull, just, and equal rights under the Constitution; no 
more compromises — no more adjustments — they are but the 
resorts of weak minds, or the last refuge of a strong one, and 



29 

even then, can o\Ci.^ jpostpone the evil. We have lost our po- 
litical power — we must depend upon our constitutional rights. 
To yield one point to force, is, with States, to yield every 
thino;. We shall weaken ourselves with our northern friends 
by yielding, for if they see us weak in defending our rights 
they will not come forward to aid ns, for they know we are 
strong in nothing else. (I mean ])oltticaUy we are far strong- 
er than the north in defending ourselves against a foreign 
enemy.) ]^o ! our qvl\j permayiient safety is to place ourselves 
iirmly on our equal rights, and say to the Kepublican party, 
" destroy the Constitution ! break that compact which now 
makes us one people, (and which alas! is almost the sole re- 
maining link between us,) even in its slightest obligation, and 
we become a separate nation." We may meanly purchase 
present immunity from attacks by yielding to present de- 
mands, but what is to become of our children ? for when were 
the fanatic followers of an abstract principle ever known to 
pause in their career of conquest ? Look at France in the 
pursuit of Liberty sacrificing to a public courtezan as its 
goddess, or to the Puritans of England raising Cromwell to a 
pinnacle of power far beyond that possessed by him whom they 
Mieaded. Can we expect their descendants will pause under 
the leadership of a Sumner, a Wilson, a Seward or a Gid- 
dings? And let us not be deceived by the ai}j)arent change 
of views and moderation of their leaders in Congress. In the 
present state of the New England mind, they are not sup- 
ported hy their oiun constituents in this course. " Man is apt 
to indulge in the illusions of hope," says the illustrious Pa- 
trick Henry. Let us not be "transformed into brutes," but 
follow the example of the Orator and our Forefathers, and 
" resist the evil," as they then did. 

Most respectfully yours, <fcc., 

H. K. B. 



80 



Thoknburg Plantation, near Halifax, 
N. C, Dec. — , 1856. 

To the Editors of the Journal of Commerce : 

Gentlemen: Appreciating the courage with which you 
have resisted the violent and oft times mahcious attacks upon 
the soiitliern portion of our confederacy, upon tlieir princi- 
ples, actions, patriotism, and present state of prosperity, and 
wishing to see your paper regnhirly, I send yon the within 
bill as my subscription to your Daily Journal of Commerce 
Jun. While writing, let me state tliat I am a Southern 
planter, but was educated at the N^orth, and resided there 
seven years. I married a Kew England wife, and have since, 
for eighteen years, been constantly visiting there, and have as 
large an estate in ISTew England as at the South. Self-interest 
alone, then, must make me a Union man. I was for two 
months in Boston and its vicinity, the past summer. I mus^, 
therefore, have had some opportunity forjudging, and from 
my position, must be impartial. 1 have carefully and calmly 
considered the case, and ray deliberate conviction is tliat this 
Union must soon give way, under the shocks it continues to 
receive from both extremities of the Union, — ]^ew England 
on one side, and South-Carolina on the other; and this, I be- 
lieve, is also the opinion of the great body of reflecting men 
at the South. Nothing can save the Union but bold and de- 
cided action by ISTorthern conservatives. They must come 
before their people and openly and boldly declai-e for giving 
their Southern brethren equal rights in all things under the 
constitution ; and by informing the masses what the equal 
rights of the South are, create an entire change of public 
opinion throughout the New England States, and thus de- 
throne the present demagoguical freesoil leaders. This cannot 
be done too soon ; for there are many influential men among 
US, who, (having come to the conclusion that the Union can- 
not stand, have been reflecting on the result, and deciding 
that the change which will take place in the course of trade 



31 

and commerce, would inure greatly to the benefit of the 
South,) are making preparations for this change, and to reap 
the first fruits of it. When this feeling of self-interest is once 
fixed in the mind, patriotism becomes weakened, and the dif- 
ficulty of restoring the former condition of amity and good 
feeling between the two sections of the country is greatly in- 
creased. For my own part, believing, indeed, knoioing as I 
do the great dependence of the North upon the South, less 
for its supplies of cotton than as a market for numerous man- 
ufactures o^ minor articles of wood, snch as carriages, furni- 
ture, clocks, buckets, efec, &c. ; of iron, as spades, nails, 
ploughs, and the immense amount of agricultural implements ; 
which now support so many small villages; of wool, as 
cloths, carpets, ready made clothing, &c., (fcc. ; of tin, for 
which New England is so famous ; of leather, to an extent 
and variety which almost exceeds belief; of machinery of 
every kind, to say nothing of the onions, hay, &c., which we 
find less advantageous to make than our cottons, sugars and 
cereals. All of these manufactures we could readily supply 
ourselves, were our labor so directed. Indeed, there is no 
doubt but in a short time after a separation, we should have 
thousands of their best and most enterprising mechanics and 
artisans among us, as they will no longer find scope for their 
skill at home when this trade, now so profitable, shad be cut 
off. New England, since the infamous Eeciprocity treaty 
with Canada, (cutting off our supplying them with breadstuffs) 
takes from us only some six or seven hundred thousand bales 
of cotton, and even this would soon be made up by the in- 
creased <jonsumptioii by the rest of the world, consequent up- 
on opening our ports to free trade. In fact, the consumption 
of cotton has already overtaken production, even with the 
enormous crop of 1855, which will probably be little exceed- 
ed, if at all, for several years to come. 

Again, the abrogation of our present navigation laws, would 
be a very heavy blow to the shipping interest of the North. 
They now operate upon us as probably the most onerous tax 
we pay our Northern brethren for then friendly {/) aid and 
alliance, /m?ic?Zy in what? 



32 

One point more, and I am done ; for really I had no idea 
of writing such an epistle when I began. The republican 
party make a great, and if perserered in, a fatal mistake, in 
supposing and treating the question between us as merely a 
political one. That this is so, no one who has passed much 
time at the JSTorth, can doubt; and it fills the mind of the 
Southern philanthropist, who knows it to be far more than 
that, with the saddest feelings to see it. They think it a point 
of no consequence beyond its political result; a measure in 
which one part or the other is to succeed, and then it is all 
over! Theif distance from us and ignorance of the peculiar 
situation of our people, almost exclusively agricultural, re- 
siding in a sparsel}^ settled country, families of wives and 
children living surrounded by ignorant and credulous ne- 
groes, who if left alone and unseduced by designing men, are 
contented and happy to follow their duties and occupations 
throughout their lives to their final rest, and satisfied to meet 
from God the reward of the use made of the " talent " given 
them, but easily misled, and when excited by liquor (which 
is always the first thing they aim at when in insurrection) 
and out of the bounds of authority, perpetrate the most hor- 
rid atrocities upon unofi'ending loomen and children, such as 
would revolt the minds of the most rabid abolitionist. Wit- 
ness the account of every servile insurrection on record. 
This position of the Southern people is not and cannot be re- 
alized by those who have never been so placed ! l^othing 
can so rouse the mind of man to madness, as the conviction 
that his wife and family are likely to be subjected to the hor- 
rors of another Southampton insurrection, and this too excited 
* by those who should be his friends and brothers. To deny 
that the abolitionists have not produced these insurrectionary 
movements, and are not continually trying to do so, and that 
the " republican " party are not allied with the Garrison, 
Wriirht, Fred. Douglass and Sumner Abolitionists, and did 
not assiduously court their co-operation during the late can- 
vass, virtually saying to them, "join us now and by 1S60 we 
will join you " — is to deny what has passed before our own 
eyes, and of which we ourselves are the witnesses. To deny 



33 

that the late Presidential canvass, carried on as it was bj the 
republicans and their allies^ proclaiming open hostility and 
enmity to the master, denouncing Southern slave-owners in 
the most opprobrious terras, and threatening them, in the lan- 
guage of your Honorable Senators, that "slavery can and 
will be abolished, and you and I can do it,^' was not legiti- 
mately calculated to excite our negroes, when it is known 
that their speeches and publications were sent by thousands 
among us, under every possible form of concealment — that 
many of our negroes can read — and never till this year have 
I determined to prevent it in the case of my own — that we 
have many emmissaries among us, who delude the poor ne- 
groes with the most illusive hopes and unfounded statements 
of ''soldiers from the North, with big cannon marching down 
to help them," &c., &c. — to deny this is to deny what every 
Southern man knows only too sensibly, and which, even 
while I write, finds too melancholy a confirmation in a wide 
spread conspiracy at the West, with its horrid results, and 
which was openly declared by one of the editors of a ]^ew 
York paper (who happened to be present) and other impar- 
tial evidence, to have been the efi*ect of the late Presidential 
canvass ! 

When you reflect on the exciting effect of this state of 
things upon the Southerner, and when you recollect the stub- 
born character of the Puritan mind, and that this has in the 
present generation been literally nursed and educated in ab- 
olitionism, that abolitionism has been the great theme of their 
newspapers and lectures, the literary portion of their alma- 
nacs, the foundation of their school books, and the illustra- 
tions of their annuals — I doubt not you will come to the same 
sad conclusion with myself, that this glorious Union, the hope 
of liberty throughout the world, the great labor and result of 
the combined wisdom and patriotism of the wisest and most 
patriotic body the world ever saw, is ere long to be shattered 
to pieces, because a set of stubborn men insist on forcing an 
abstraction — that "slavery is a great civil and moral evil" — 
upon another part of our common country, against their wish- 
es and interest, 

3 Yours, &c., H. K. B. 



34 



February, 1857. 
P. S. — Since writing the above, I have met with the here- 
with extracts from papers at tiie two extremities of our frontier 
on the non slaveholding States. Let them be read by those 
who would beheve in the moderation of the Republican party, 
and who would " cry peace ! peace ! while there is no peace. "^ 
Let them look at the recent Senatorial elections at the ISTorth 
of Preston King, one of the old panel of full abolitionists from 
New York, and Hamlin of Maine, one of their recent con- 
verts. Truly, it behooves us to sink party differences at the 
South, and look only to this great — this vital question — vital 
to us and to our children's children. H. K. B. 



THE DISXJOTONISTS AT WORCESTER. 

There was a time, when frantic denunciations of " the 
Union," and '' the Constitution," by such unhappy beings as 
Mr. Wm. L. Garrison, Mr. Stephen Foster, and Samuel J. 
May, Jr., were listened to and read in the newspapers, by the 
vast majority of our fellow-citizens, without exciting any oth- 
er feelings than those of commiseration and abhorrence, — but 
that time, it is sad to think, has in a measure gone by. These 
professional traitors and disunionists, have made a black 
mark— deep and legible — upon the political complexion of 
certain sections of the country, that indicates a steady pro- 
gression among us of ideas and opinions which, ten or fifteen 
years ago, were confined to a very narrow circle of men of 
very narrow minds. They left their impress upon one of the 
leading parties in the recent Presidential election, and, in all 
that campaign, exerted a power and an influence, practically,, 
which would make it the extreme of affectation to pass by 
their proceedings, as we formerly used to do, in silent con- 
tempt. No — these Union-dissolvers and Constitution-cursers 
are to-day a power in the State — and their sayings and do- 
ings, now, in Convention at Worcester, are just as much en- 
titled to public consideration, and to newspaper reports, as 
were those occasional conventions at Philadelphia and Syra- 
cuse, of sectional mischief-makers, who, " in certain contin- 
gencies, are willing to let the Union slide." 



35 

Tke Convention now sitting, in a city which may be called 
the very heart of New England,— Worcester,— has for its 
avowed object " a consideration of the expediency of sepa- 
rating the free from the slave States ;" and one of the funda- 
mental articles in its creed is, that Eepnblicanism in the Unit- 
ed States has been a faihire, and must always continue to be 
a failure, so long as the Northern sixteen States remain in 
partnership with the fifteen States that are slave. This is sub- 
stantially the same doctrine which was zealously advocated 
by some of the leading Fremont orators in this State, and at 
the West, last fall. Fred Douglass enforced, in spirit, the same 
ideas, and the same principles, in his famous speech at Otis- 
co,— subsequently echoed and applauded in Wisconsin. Gar- 
rison, the master spirit of the Worcester Convention,— did 
his utmost to help to elect Col. Fremont, though with char- 
acteristic cunning, throwing dust in the eyes of the unwary, 
by professing all the while to be opposed to him. As with 
Douglass and Garrison, specifically, so with the disunionists 
generally,— they declared for Fremont and black Republican- 
ism as the best bargain they could drive in 1856,— trusting 
that, with the capital thus manufactured, — the future business 
of dissolving the Union would receive such a new impetus as 
would encourage reasonable expectations of eventual suc- 
cess. Some of the sermons preached to order by the repub- 
lican clergy, even in this Union-loving city, we hkewise re- 
member, were quite up to the Garrison and May platform, 
and for much of the enthusiasm and spirit— we shall not say 
frenzy and fanaticism— then manifested in this way, by one 
section of this country against the other, the men and women 
now sitting at Worcester may rightfully claim the credit. It 
was they who started the ball, years and years ago, and, see- 
ing with what wonderful rapidity that ball has been rolling, 
all over JSTew England and the North, it is quite natural that, 
even on the heels of a fatiguing Presidential election, they 
are come together again, as fresh as ever, to quicken its pace 
and hurry on conclusions in their own way. 

In this view of the case, then, it will not do to dismiss the 
cry of " No Union with slaveholders,"—" Better Disunion, 
with Freedom, than Union with Slavery,"— and all that sort 



no 

of thiug, as a mere wolf cry. We repeat it, the time for that— 
as the retrospect of the past few months painfullj^ demon- 
strates — has passed, or is rapidly passing, away. It was a 
wolf cry once, but the wolf now is at the door. His den is 
no longer in Worcester, — nor in Massachusetts, — nor in New 
England, for he has just been roaming— and may roam again — 
over nearly the entire N^orth. 

The Southern Sectionalists and Fire-Eaters of the Barnwell 
Ehett and Charleston Mercury School, hate the Union just as 
heartily as the Northern brethren do. But there is this dif- 
ference between them. The disunionist of the Worcester 
faith, having organization, perseverance, industry, tact, and 
no inconsiderable support from the pulpit, keeps going ahead, 
and apparently growing stronger every day. On the other 
hand, the Fire-Eater, in his passion and declamation, or neg- 
lect to organize, — and, forgetting to call upon " the churches " 
in New Orleans, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, cfec, to his 
aid — wastes his strength in wind and words in the Capitol at 
Washington. And this is the reason why we so seldom hear 
of real, open, professed " Disunion Conventions " any where 
in the South, — because, strong as " treason " may be in cer- 
tain communities there, it has been but rarely bold enough 
for any undertaking of that kind, that public sentiment did 
not compel to cover up in the cloak as in the " Commercial 
Convention" at Charleston, — or "Southern Convention" at 
Nashville. Confident of its own strength, however. Northern 
Disunion, it will be seen, wears now no disguises, no cloaks, 
at Worcester. 



Tkue Enough. — The Louisville Journal remarks that the 
effect of the election, thus far, is : 

"The Ereesoil party is decidedly stronger at this moment 
than it was on the 4:th of November, and, if Mr. Buchanan, 
as President, shall meet in any degree the wishes and expec- 
tations of his Southern friends and supporters, that party will 
in less than one year be powerful enough to sweep the 
Democracy from the face of the land in every non-slavehold- 
ingt State in the Union.'' 



{From, the Journal of Commeroe.) 
The only remark we deem it necessary to make in connec- 
tion with the annexed communication, is this: tliat we have 
repeatedly denounced both the " Apprentice " trade and the 
" CooHe " trade, as in many respects worse than the slave 
trade. Both systems tempt the cupidity of masters to exact 
excessive labors from their victims, because all they can get 
out of them must be obtained in a few years; whereas, tho 
slaveholder proper has a life tenure in his negroes and their 
descendants, and consequently has the same interest in pro- 
moting their physical, not to say their moral well-being also^ 
as a ;N"orthern farmer has in taking care of his horses, sheep 
and oxen. We are here assuming for the moment, that the 
slaveholder is entirely selfish, and has no regard to conscience 
or duty ; although we know the fact to be otherwise in a 
multitude of cases. We also believe that this conscientious 
regard for the physical comfort and moral welfare of servants^ 
is much Triore prevalent in our Southern States than in those 
islands where the Coolie and Apprentice systems are in 
operation. 

(For the Journal of Commerce.) 

Messrs. Editors : — In your usually very fair and liberal 
editorials I generally cordially agree ; yet can't but think that 
in that of the 12th inst., headed '"Entente Cordiale between 
France and England," you have sided with the English^ 
against facts and information given in your own paper some 
twelve months or more since. 

In this editorial you strongly take ground in favor of 
English humanity in the treatment of their Eastern subjects, 
against the French in, their management of their '^free im- 
migration ;" what a perversion of terms, to call it " free." 

You say, in the recent case of the Regina Coeli, "the ne- 
groes cheerfully surrendered and proved to the Captain's 
entire satisfaction," (the English Captain, I apprehend, did 
not show himself very obdurate on such an occasion) " that so 
far from being 'free immigrants,' they had been kidnapped 
and bought, and were in reality as much slaves as any of their 
countrymen who had been sold into captivity in Cuba." 
Kow what, pray, was the difference between the situation of 
t\\Q free immigrants on board the " Regina Coeli" and the 
Coolies on board the British ^\i\^^ " Gulnare" and the "Duke 
of Portland ?" In the case of the former, the Coolies re- 



<volted, were put under the hatches, then the ship was set 
•fire to, and many of tlie poor wretches threw themselves 
overboard to avoid the horrors of their situation ; some 30 or 
40 beino^ shot down during tlie tumult. In the instance of 
the ''Duke of Portland " it came out — in a case tried in 
London — that oae-third of the Coolies shipped on board her, 
were '"spoiled" on the voyage; that is, they died from "ex- 
haustion," or "fever," or "disease;" and xXnxt such was the 
general rate of sacrifice at which Coolie free immigrant 
system was carried on hy the English. 

There is now no concealing the truth, that the horrors of 
tthe Coolie trade have never been exceeded by the old slave 
trade, carried on years ago by the English and Spaniards. 
In fact, the present difficulty between France and England 
has arisen from their rivalry in the " free immigrant business." 
They both see their error in emancipating their negroes in 
their West India Islands — thus virtually throwing away these 
valuable possessions. Bj the by, France had better turn her 
"armaments" to the recovery and re- civilisation of St. Do- 
mingo, than towards England. France has been humbugged 
by England for many years with her boasted philanthropy 
for the negro, but at last, under her present sagacious Em- 
peror, she has discovered the cheat, and, of course, is not a 
little irritated. The truth is, that the lyhilanthropy of Eng- 
land, in her emancipation of the West India negro, was no 
jphilanthroinj at all. The whole was a piece of Parliamentary 
trickery. The facts are these : For several years prior to the 
emancipation in the West Indies, Wilberforce and a few de- 
voted followers were in the habit of making, towards the end 
'Of the session of Parliament, their annual motion for the 
emancipation of the negroes in the colonies. Their efforts 
anet but little attention, and were easily passed over. But 
when the great factors of London, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, 
and Bristol (at that time a place of great trade with the West 
Indies,) found out that almost all the West India estates were 
mortgaged beyond what they could be sold for, and that they 
themselves were the owners, more or less directl}^, of these 
mortgages, wdiicli had been given to secure their advances, 
and saw no means by which they could ever realize their 
money, the scheme was concocted among themselves, to join 
Wilberforce in his plan of " emancipation," on the condition 
of a payment to the proprietor j9rc> rata; and that these mort- 
gages ^\ow\^ first he 'paid., and this jpro rata was so nicely ad- 
justed by \\\Q'^Q philanthropists ! to the aggregate amount of 
their mortgages, that of the £20,000,000 appropriated for 



tills payment, about £18,400,000 only were paid, of wTilch 
over £i6,000,000 "never left the Ishmd of Great Britain,"" 
but went to pay these j/J^^76^?^^^'r<9J?^<? mortgagees! This may 
startle some of ns, who looking only at the surface of things, 
innocently imagine the Ministry of Great Britain to be the 
most amiable, philanthropic men in the world ! that they are 
willing at all times to wield the whole power of Great Britain,, 
and to spend millions to aid the "poor negro" and prevent 
his being "torn from his loved home " by " wicked men,"' 
and sold into slavery, (where by the by, they are a great deal 
better off than in their own eounlsry, or else all travelers 
there are more than nsiially given to lying,) but nevertheless,^ 
the above can be satisfactorily proved. Indeed, coniirmatiou 
of some of the facts is to be found in the statements of a Mr. 
Biard, who traveled extensively in the West Indies in 1849' 
and 1850, and who has given us some very extraordinary sta- 
tistics of the retrogade movement in the English West Indies^ 
since the emancipation. 

The same kind of philanthropy as that above shown, is at 
the bottom of the expensive and long continued effort of 
Great Britain to put down the African slave trade. "Phi- 
lanthropy" has nothing to do with it, except as a docd'. It 
Is a struggle bj the Birmingham and Leeds manufacturers to- 
supply the demand of the interior tribes for their common 
guns, cutlery, buttons, t%c., c%c., and of the Manchester 
weavers to get a market for their common colored cloths, and 
gaudy handkerchiefs, &c., &c., and to get paid by something' 
they can make a better use of than — slaves/ which was 
always, formerly, (and soon again would be, but for England's 
blockading squadron,) almost the sole "article" given m 
payment by the traders. For negro slaves England no longer 
has any market. She was cut off from this trade with Amer- 
ica (the United States) twenty years before she gave it up in 
the West Indies. Her " emancipation " had prevented de- 
mand from her own colonies, and it was necessary to "protect 
her manufactories" — the old cry. To do this, she musfc 
"^ force a trade" with the interior of Africa. This trade 
would have been all on one side unless the trader Chiefs- 
could pay in that which could soon be turned into cash oni 
shipment home. Accordingly, the Chiefs have been com- 
pelled to put their subjects to work in killing elephants for 
their ivory. So it is now an " elephant hunt," instead of a*. 
" slave hunt "—washing rivers for gold dust, gathering palm 
oil, dye woods, &c., &c.; and so far, the result is greatly to be 
commended. But to attribute the system of English sup- 



40 

pressioii of the slave trade to jMlanthropy ! it is necessar 
to address one's self to the " Duchess Dowagers '' of Exete 
Hall, the blind fanatics of Xew England, or the pious clergy 
men of country villages. 

Tlie idea that the policy of any of the Great Powers O' 
Europe is governed by 2)hilanthro])y . is simply ridiculous 
and would as soon be laughed at by Lord Palmerston as any 
one else. Look at the policy of that same English Ministry 
with regard to China! Here, also, it is necessary to "force 
■a trade," but the circumstances were diiFerent." Here it 
became necessary — that is, expedient — to force a deleterious 
drug upon a people, against the expressed wishes of the sov* 
ereign, by which a whole nation is depraved, and thousands 
and tens of thousands are annually made to die the death of 
a beastly intoxication. 

Did the ijIdliunthroinG English Ministry suffer themselves 
to be deterred by the " horrors of the trade '' the}^ were 
forcing upon the Chinese? jSTo! but the opium trade was 
thrust upon that weak nation at the point of the bayonet, 
because the Ministry could loieM the power to do this great 
Wrong, and they did wield it effectually. And thus was ex- 
hibited the singular spectacle, that English fleets and arma- 
ments were blockading the coast of Africa, to prevent the 
" horrors " of a trade which the sovereigns of that country 
earnestly desired, while at the same time English fleets and 
armaments were forcing a far more horrid trade upon an 
innocent people, against the earnest remonstrances of their 
sovereign. 

I humbly opine, Messrs. Editors, that in the consideration 
of the policy of foreign governments, the less we attribute to 
them qI jjMlantliTojpy^ the more apt we are to be correct in 
our conclusion with regard to their motives. 

Yours most respectfully, 

H. "K. B. 
(A Southern Subscriber.) 



54 



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